THE GREAT DAYS OF THE
GARDEN DISTRICT
And the Old City of Lafayette
by
Martha Ann Brett Samuel
and
Ray Samuel
Published and Copyrighted 1961
Fifth Printing 1974
By the Parents’ League of the Louise S. McGehee School
Library of Congress Catalogue Card No. 61-18748
The city of Lafayette, during its 19 years of life, was proud andindependent. Map shows its location and that of its “back”residential area, the Garden District. (Drawn by Gilbert Tasso.)
PREFACE
There has long been a need for the factual story of the old City ofLafayette and its fine residential area, the Garden District. What betteropportunity to attempt to fill this need than to benefit the Louise S.McGehee School! This venerable institution now approaches its fiftiethyear, a memorable half century of leadership in education.
Therefore, the Parents’ League of McGehee’s, as the school is affectionatelyknown to three generations of students, considered it fitting toput its members to work on this project with a three-fold purpose: tomemorialize the half century of growth of McGehee’s as it continues toexpand its facilities to serve the community; to develop an extra sourceof income for the League’s contributions to the school; and to satisfythe continuous requests made by the hundreds of visitors who take theLeague-sponsored Garden District home tours.
The authors, who were asked to undertake the research and writingproject, are gratefully indebted to many for their kind advice and consent.Old maps, documents, rare books and family records have beengenerously offered for examination. Illustrations have been lent fromprivate and other collections. Patient understanding and careful correctionof the manuscript were invaluable. We would like to thank particularlythe following: Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Wilson, Jr., Mr. Cecil J.Murphy, Mr. Leonard V. Huber, The Waldo-Burton Memorial Home,Miss Margaret Ruckert, Mrs. Sue Bauman, Mr. Richard Koch, Mrs.William J. Griffith, Mrs. Dorothy Whittemore and others in the archivesdepartment of the Howard-Tilton Library of Tulane University, theLouisiana State Museum Library, the Notarial Archives, Mrs. BenjaminCromwell Gore, Mrs. Robert Lee Emery, Jr., Miss Barbara Gessner, MissLily Gauche, Mr. Frank Boatner, Mrs. Keith Temple, Dr. BernardLemann, Mr. Albert Lieutaud, Mr. Harold Leisure, Mr. Carleton King,Mr. Errol E. Kelly, Mrs. John Prados, and Dr. Virgil L. Bedsole.
From the McGehee faculty and the Parents’ League inestimableassistance was received. Mrs. Edmund McIlhenny, Parents’ League President,and Miss Elise McGehee, Headmistress, were extremely generouswith their time and counsel. Our thanks to Mrs. Andrew W. Dykersfor reading the manuscript; Mrs. Leslie Bowling, who designed andexecuted the cover picture; Leon Trice, Jr., who took the majority ofthe interior photographs; Mrs. Bernard Wolfe, capable business managerof the project; and very special gratitude to Mrs. Dallam O’Brien, whodesigned the book, and to Mr. O’Brien for his help.
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